The Historian
by OccasionallyBreathtaking
Summary: Though the attempt on Klaus's life has failed, knowledge of a new player in the game has come to light - the Historian knows everything there is to know about the Originals. The Salvatore brothers take her in to find out what she knows, but one of them finds himself powerfully and helplessly drawn to her.


**I've always enjoyed the Vampire Diaries television show, but as I've been fairly busy, I've missed quite a lot of the last two seasons. This bit was written many moons ago, after the Klaus-Elena sacrifice debacle. I'm just testing the waters, seeing if there's anything to this. Please let me know if I ought to continue.**

**I own nothing you recognize from the Vampire Diaries franchise.**

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"Come on, Elijah," Damon muttered in frustration. "You can't just leave town when you hear your little brother is coming to visit. I mean," he leaned forward, a knowing look on his finely featured face, "I know what a huge pain in the ass younger brothers can be, but this is ridiculous." Elijah merely raised an eyebrow, keeping hold of his politely indifferent expression.

"Niklaus is not simply my younger brother," he reminded Damon mildly. "He's also holding captive my entire family. No, I'll not go up against him again until I know for sure I will come out victorious." Elena stood up and approached him.

"Our last attempt was almost successful," she said, and he looked down at her with amusement. "Please, don't give up now."

"Almost successful simply isn't good enough," Elijah replied.

"Let me remind you that you are the reason we failed to kill Klaus last time," Bonnie interjected, bitterness staining her usually friendly voice. "You could have ended all this suffering that night, but you betrayed us. The least you could do is help us now." Elijah regarded her warily.

"That is very true," he murmured. "And I hope you all realize just how much I regret letting you down. The allure of being finally reunited with my family was too strong for me to resist."

"So you'll help us?" Elena's voice was colored with unbridled hope.

"No," Elijah replied. "Like I said, without a foolproof guarantee, I'll not get involved." All around the room in the Salvatore boarding house, heads and shoulders fell in disappointment and anger.

"Then you really ought to be going," Stefan said in a tight voice. Elijah bowed his head and was gone. Sighs of frustration echoed through the room. Elena, Stefan, Damon, Bonnie, Alaric, Jeremy, and Caroline had gathered to confront the Original, but were all wholly disappointed now. Elena's cell phone buzzed in her hand, and, recognizing the number, she answered it immediately.

"Elijah," she breathed.

"Have your watch look into her grimoires for any reference to the line of Historians," he said.

"What do you mean, Historians?" she wondered. "Can they help us defeat Klaus?" Bonnie's head snapped up, and all eyes were suddenly on her.

"Something like that," Elijah chuckled, hanging up shortly thereafter.

"What is it, Bonnie?" asked Caroline, but the witch ignored her and dove into her messenger bag, pulling from it Emily Bennett's enormous grimoire. After several minutes of flipping through aged pages while everyone else looked on, she came to a stop.

"Here it is," she breathed. "I never paid much attention to it because it never sounded like it could be much help."

"So?" wondered Damon. "What does it say?" Bonnie glared briefly at him before looking back down at the dusty tome.

"It says that the Original witch wanted the story of her family and the creation of the race of vampires to be preserved," she explained. "So she enchanted the firstborn child of a neighbor's family so that he could keep an infinite amount of information stored in his head." There was a moment of silence.

"Well damn," Alaric muttered. "This Original witch really liked ruining lives."

"That's not all," Bonnie said, grimacing. "The magic dictated the firstborn in that narrow line of the direct family would always have the exceptional memory. Thus, the Historians were created."

"So there's someone out there right now with all knowledge of the Original family," Jeremy said slowly.

"And it sounds like he'd be an incredible weapon against an Original," murmured Stefan. "We need to find him."

"How are we supposed to find this one person?" asked Caroline. "I don't mean to sound like a total pessimist, but he could be anywhere in the world."

"Bonnie?" called Elena, pulling the witch out of her reverie. "Is there anything you could do to find the Historian? Like, a special locator spell or something?" Since Bonnie usually denied the existence of such specific spells, everyone was surprised when she nodded.

"Emily wrote a spell linked to the specific brand of magic found in the Historian blood," she replied. "If you get me some candles and a bowl of water, I can do it right now."

Minutes later, Bonnie sat on the rug with the grimoire and water, surrounded by a circle of candles. Her hands were in the water as she chanted, and the room was filled with what felt like an electric breeze. Sparks flew midair, and everyone stepped back.

The candles dimmed moments later, and Bonnie wiped her hands dry on her jeans.

"You're not going to believe this," she said, sounding incredulous herself. "The Historian's somewhere at the Grille."

"Nice," Damon said, shrugging on his black leather jacket. "Let's go."

"We can't all just show up there," Alaric pointed out. "Damon and I should just go, in case there's trouble. Plus, it'll look like we're just out getting drunk again."

"Good thinking," Damon agreed. "Let's go, Teacher."

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Alaric and Damon walked into the Mystic Grille minutes later and were immediately searching.

"One problem," Alaric muttered. "We have no idea what this Historian looks like." Damon's head fell back and he grunted miserably.

"That's not the biggest of our problems," he told Alaric. "Klaus is here." Alaric's eyes went wide, and he found Klaus a moment later. At that exact moment, Klaus looked up and gave them a smirk, waving them over. It was then that they noticed that he wasn't alone.

"What a lovely surprise," Klaus said as they approached his corner booth. "I wasn't expecting to see you two so soon. Please, have a seat." Damon and Alaric exchanged glances, but did as he suggested. Alaric sat beside Klaus, while Damon slid in next to his companion. It was a small girl, roughly eighteen years of age. She was gorgeous, with long black hair that reached her waist and a heartbreakingly pretty face.

"Gentlemen, this is Mona Black," Klaus said. "Mona, my dear, this is Damon Salvatore, and this is Alaric Saltzman. They live here in Mystic Falls." Mona looked up from her burger only long enough to flash them both fleeting smiles. She then went back to eating in a decidedly hurried fashion.

"We'd heard you might be coming back for a visit," Damon told Klaus, still watching Mona. "Elijah was kind enough to give us the heads-up before fleeing town." Klaus chuckled.

"That sounds like my big brother," he noted. "Mona, dear, how many times has my brother done such a disappearing act over the years?" Mona sat up straight, setting her food back on its plate.

"Seventy-two," she replied, taking a sip of her drink. "Although it's become more common of an occurrence over the last two hundred years than it was before." Alaric gaped openly at her, but Damon just eyed her suspiciously as she dove back into her food.

"Yes, my friends, Mona is in fact the current Historian," Klaus confirmed. "She knows everything about the history of my family, and that includes everything that's happened since we were...created."

"How is that even possible?" Alaric asked. "I mean, that's thousands of years worth of information on each of you. She's too young for that."

"Yes," agreed Klaus. "She's young - she'll turn eighteen next weekend." Damon frowned.

"That little display of knowledge aside, I'm finding it hard to believe she's got all that information just stored up in her head."

"Choose to believe it or not, I'm telling you the truth," Klaus said, leaning back.

"And why are you telling us this?" Alaric asked. "It's not like you to be so forthcoming with this kind of information." Klaus chuckled in agreement as he pushed his own untouched plate of food across the table toward Mona. She'd finished with her own.

"Sorry about her lack of conversation tonight. Normally, Mona's got quite a mouth on her, but she hasn't eaten in a while, so, as you can imagine, it's all that's on her mind right now." Mona shrugged apologetically.

Klaus turned to look at Damon and Alaric again. "Don't worry about my motives. I'm just back in Mystic Falls to do some research. Mona's next level of training should begin here, soon, too." He looked back to Mona as he spoke to them. "Run along, now, please. Mona and I have work to do." Damon and Alaric hesitated, but complied.

"What the hell is going on?" wondered Alaric as soon as they stepped outside.

"I have no idea," Damon muttered, casting a glance about. "But we're going to find out."

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"Well, the Historian's a girl," Alaric told the group the next day when they once again gathered at the Salvatore boarding house.

"A hot girl, if we're being completely honest," Damon added. "She's with Klaus."

"What do you mean?" Jeremy asked. "She's with Klaus?"

"Yeah," Alaric confirmed. "They were just sitting in the Grille, eating. Like it was no big deal."

"So who is she?" Caroline wondered.

"Mona Black," Damon replied. "Ric, get your criminology friend at Duke to look into her. We didn't exactly get much during our little impromptu meeting. Remember, her eighteenth birthday is this weekend." There was a shocked silence.

"She's only seventeen, and Klaus has hold of her?" Elena's voice was shocked. "How did she look?"

"Thin," Alaric answered. "A little underweight, maybe. Also, she looked really tired. Like she hadn't slept in a few days." Damon nodded his agreement.

"Well, we need to see if there's a way to talk to her without Klaus around," Bonnie said, standing up. "I have a lot of unanswered questions from the grimoire."

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Over the next 24 hours, the motley group watched and followed Klaus, who spent nearly every moment in the company of Mona. Eventually, though, Klaus left her sitting alone at a picnic table in the town square while he headed into the Grille. Alaric followed him into the restaurant to act as a lookout, while Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie approached the table. Damon and Stefan stood hidden nearby, close enough so that they could hear everything.

"Hi, Mona," Caroline said as they sat down, startling the girl. Mona had been reading from an old, weathered journal, and it fell from her hands to the table.

"Oh!" she gasped, looking around at them. "You scared me."

"Sorry," Elena said sincerely as the girl marked her page and shut the journal. "We didn't mean to sneak up on you."

"I really hate being rude, but who are you?" Mona wondered. "Well, you must be Elena Gilbert. I've never met Katherine in person, but you look eerily similar to Klaus's drawings."

"Yes, I'm Elena, and these are my friends, Caroline Forbes and Bonnie Bennett." Mona shook their hands politely.

"It's nice to meet you all," she told them. "And like I said before, I hate being rude, but I have a lot of work to do. Klaus gets upset when I fall behind."

"We just want to know what you're doing with someone like Klaus," Caroline said. "I mean, you do know who he is, right?" Mona sighed, setting the journal aside.

"I know who he is, I know what he is, and I have absolutely no illusions as to his motives and intentions. Unfortunately, I know everything there is to know about him."

"We can get you away from him," Elena said in a low voice. "We can help you escape." Mona gave her a sad little smile that looked more like a grimace more than anything.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," she replied.

"Why not?" demanded Bonnie. "You simply can't be happy around someone like him."

"Happiness has nothing to do with it," Mona chuckled. "I owe Klaus a great deal, and to hold up my end of our bargain, I'm paying off my debt by doing as he asks."

"What could he possibly have over you to keep you like this?" Bonnie asked, but Mona shook her head.

"That's my own personal business. But it's nothing I'm sure the young and powerful Bennett witch couldn't discover with a clever spell." All three girls blinked in surprise, but before they could reply, Caroline's phone buzzed in her hand.

"Damn," she whispered. "Alaric says we need to move." With a hurried goodbye, they left Mona on her own and met up with the others around the corner.

"This is getting really weird," Stefan said as they surreptitiously watched Klaus hand Mona a box of food from the Grille.

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A few days later, Damon and Stefan were enjoying a quiet afternoon with Elena in the living room when there was a knock at the door. When Damon opened it, his eyes widened when he saw Klaus standing on his doorstep, Mona just behind him,

"Klaus," he said. "Mona, so good to see you both again."

"We've just come for a little chat," Klaus announced. "May we come in?" Stefan and Elena joined them at the door.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Elena said slowly.

"Klaus isn't like other vampires," Elena sighed from her spot behind him. "He doesn't need to be invited in to gain entrance. He was only asking for the sake of being courteous." The three looked to Klaus in disbelief, but he simply widened his smile.

"I guess there's no point in refusing," Stefan sighed, and all five adjourned to the living room.

"So, Elena, you and your supernatural friends thought it prudent to introduce yourselves to Mona the other day," began Klaus, pinning her with an intense gaze. Elena, Damon, and Stefan all looked to Mona in anger, but Klaus held up a hand. "She didn't rat you out, even though she should have. She chose to keep quiet, and for that she got into some trouble." Mona's gaze remained trained upon another journal, which she was now reading with incredible speed.

"So?" Elena challenged him. "I was worried. She's human, and she's with you. There's no telling what could happen to her." Klaus chuckled.

"You're so selfless, Elena," he said. "But you need not worry for Mona's safety. She's one of my most important assets. I'll not let anything happen to her."

"What about school? What about friends? What about living a normal life?" Klaus paused, looking over at Mona, who was still reading.

"Mona doesn't need any of those things," he said finally, turning to face Elena again. Mona winced, and though Klaus missed the look of pain, neither Stefan nor Damon did. "She's serving her purpose here with me."

"Everyone needs those things!" Elena burst out. Klaus frowned.

"Perhaps you're right," he murmured. "I do want Mona to be normal in most respects." He turned to face Mona. "Would you like that? To live a normal life when I don't require you to be with me?" Mona looked up at him wearily.

"You know I'm going to do whatever it is you ask of me," she replied.

"But is that something you'd like?" he asked again. Mona thought for a moment.

"Of course," she said. "That sounds nice." Klaus clapped his hands together.

"I'll be leaving Mystic Falls for a period of time," he told them all. "And it would be less dangerous for Ella if she stayed here while I was gone."

"She can stay at my house," Elena volunteered quickly. "We've got a spare room she could stay in." Klaus shook his head.

"She'll stay at my house," he said. "I'm afraid she requires something stronger than simply human protection."

"We'll take her," Stefan offered. "She shouldn't be alone, anyway." Klaus considered this, and nodded.

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"Mona, sweetheart," Klaus called as she pulled her suitcase from the trunk of his car. "Come here, please."

"Yes?" He turned to see her standing beside him, struggling with her bag. Klaus took it from her and lifted it easily.

"You remember our agreement, correct?" he asked.

"Of course," she replied, brushing her hair out of her face. "In exchange for letting me briefly return to being a normal human, I'm not to speak to anyone on the subjects you've forbidden." He nodded, smiling.

"You've always been excellent company," he told her. "I do believe I'm going to miss your conversation while I'm away." Mona gave him a wry look.

"Oh, come now," she laughed. "You're a brilliant, thousand year old vampire. The conversation can't have been very good at all." Klaus chuckled, leading her to the Salvatores' doorstep.

"You underestimate yourself," he replied, setting her bag down. "Now, you won't be seeing me for a while, but always have your cell phone available. Do not miss my calls or text messages. Do you understand?" Mona looked carefully up at him - his eyes were hard and his expression unforgiving.

"Understood," she whispered. Although Klaus could sometimes make himself appear to be kind and compassionate toward her, Mona could never allow herself to forget that he was, first and foremost, a very old, very clever, and very dangerous supernatural being.

Klaus smiled. "Excellent. Enjoy your time off. I'll see you in a while." He knocked on the door and was gone.

Damon answered the door a moment later. "Mona Black," he drawled. "Come on in." She lifted her little bag and walked across the threshold. Still, the old-time grandeur of the boarding house took her breath away. "Where's the rest of your stuff?" Mona gestured toward the bag.

"This is everything," she told him, and he frowned. "You find that you don't need much when your life consists only of following a vampire from place to place." Damon chuckled. "So where are the others?"

"Stefan's at school with Elena and everyone else," he replied, beckoning for her to follow him up the stairs. "So you're lucky enough to have me all to yourself until they get back later." Mona smiled as he pushed open a door right off the staircase. "This one's yours."

Mona's mouth dropped open as she walked in. The room was airy and open, with a high ceiling and a window that took up nearly all of the western wall. There was a large bed in the corner with a roll-top desk and armoire on the opposite side.

"It's a little empty," Damon remarked from the doorway, where he leaned against the frame. "But Elena and the girls will take you out to get stuff to decorate." Mona set down her bag and turned to face him.

"This is incredible," she told him, and he snorted.

"It's small and got barely anything in it. What's so incredible about it?" She gave him a wry smile.

"I've never had a room of my own before," she told him, and his eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "Plus, I've always wanted a window." Damon found himself nearly at a loss for words.

"I'll be downstairs after you settle in," he finally said in a strained voice.

Later, she found Damon downstairs in the sitting room, drink in hand. He was staring pensively out the window. He turned when he heard her enter the room.

"Something to drink?" he offered, pointing to the cart. Mona wrinkled her nose.

"Alcohol?" He nodded with a raised eyebrow. "I've never had any before, but Klaus is always more of an ass after he's had too much." Damon choked and spluttered for a minute before gaping openly at her.

"You've never had alcohol before?" Mona shook her head.

"Being drunk isn't exactly conducive to keeping focused on my work," she said, laughing a little. Damon wiped his mouth as he eyed her.

"One of these days, we'll introduce you," he said. "Alcohol can only be a good thing, if you know how to use it correctly." The front door opened then, and Stefan, Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline poured into the sitting room.

"Mona!" cried Elena. "It's good to see you here." Mona smiled. "Are you hungry? We were going to go get something to eat at the Grille." Mona nodded fervently.

"Let's go!" suggested Caroline, and all six climbed into Elena's car. Soon enough, they were pulling up to the restaurant, and then they were all in the corner booth, ordering. On one side, Mona was squeezed between Caroline and Elena, while Damon, Stefan, and Bonnie sat opposite.

"So, how long have you been with Klaus?" asked Caroline.

"He came to my house on my tenth birthday," Mona responded. "I left with him later that afternoon."

"That's a really long time," noted Bonnie. "What made you go with him in the first place?"

"I was the oldest of six kids," Mona began explaining. "The twins Jack and Joseph, Eric, Henry, and Don. My mom died just after Don was born, and that left everything up to my dad. He'd already been working two jobs, and it all got a lot harder when he had to singlehandedly take care of all six of us, too. So, I started to take on all the home responsibilities. Soon enough, I was doing everything at home so that my dad could just keep working.

"But when Jack and Joseph turned nine, I noticed that Joseph was having trouble walking. He was also getting really bad headaches and having to stay home from school a few times a week." Mona took a sip of her water and found that her entire audience was spellbound.

"After a few months, my dad could afford to take him to a doctor and have some tests done. Two weeks later, the doctor was telling us that Joseph had an incredibly rare tumor on his brain that was caused by an inordinately aggressive cancer."

"My God," whispered Elena.

"He told us that without immediate treatment, Joseph'd be dead in a matter of months. The problem was that the treatment was expensive, and we didn't have health insurance. That night, my dad and I spent hours trying to come up with a solution, but nothing seemed to work out right.

"The next morning was my birthday, but of course everyone had forgotten in light of Joseph's situation. Just as I was putting everyone else on the school bus, Klaus walked up to our house. That day, instead of going to school, I sat and talked with him for hours. It seemed he knew everything about me already, and he asked me if I'd like to go away with him." Mona gave a little laugh.

"At first, I had no interest in doing anything of the sort, but then he mentioned Joseph, He told me that if I agreed to leave home forever and go with him, Joseph would receive the best medical treatment available. Klaus told me that he'd make sure my family had enough money to supplement my father's income and keep them happy and healthy for years to come. I agreed almost instantly, and I've been with him ever since."

"Did your brother get better?" wondered Caroline.

"He sure did," Mona replied, smiling. "Within a year, he was cancer-free and as healthy as possible. I go back once a year to check on them, and he's been great since that first year."

"Where does your family think you are?" This came from Stefan.

"Kidnapped," Mona replied, her face becoming downcast. "But since it's been almost eight years, they've given up hope of ever finding my body." There was a sad silence at the table, during which their food arrived. "Another part of my deal with Klaus is that I never contact my family again - that my family never sets eyes on me again."

"Ouch," Damon muttered. "That totally blows." Everyone looked to him.

"Why, Damon," sang Bonnie mockingly. "Is it quite possible you're actually feeling something? Something like empathy?" Damon rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm not completely heartless," he retorted, and the mood was sufficiently lifted.

"So Mona, what is it exactly that you do for Klaus?" Stefan wondered.

"I read," she stated simply. "All of his own family journals, all other historical documentation regarding the Originals, as well as any accounts of the lives of vampires who ever came into contact with any of the Originals."

"You're basically a walking, talking library of every bit of information on every vampire in the history of the world?" said Damon incredulously.

Mona smiled. "Not all vampires," she told him. "There are a few that I've not gotten to quite yet. You two, for example. And you, Caroline." Everyone noticed that her plate was already empty.

"Holy goodness, girl, you're a machine!" Elena noted, pushing her own plate closer to Mona. "And you're underweight, too." Mona shrugged, picking up a French fry from Elena's plate.

"When you have to read thousands of years worth of vampire history from hundreds of different vampires, things fall by the wayside," she admitted.

"Like eating and sleeping?" came Stefan, and Mona shrugged again.

"It's not really a big deal," she told him. "Except it gets kind of distracting since now, I'm hungry all the time."

"You've been hungry and tired for almost eight years now," Stefan reminded her. "It is a big deal.

"And that's why you're here with us," Caroline said decisively. "All of that is going to change."

"Starting tonight," announced Elena. "There's a party down at the Falls, and you're coming with us." Mona looked hesitant.

"No arguments," Bonnie ordered. "You're here to be a normal teenager for once. Let us show you how to do that."

"She's gonna need clothes," Damon told them. "Klaus kept her wardrobe seriously limited." Mona shot him a glare.

"There's nothing wrong with my clothes," she retorted. He raised an eyebrow.

"Honey, you're eighteen, and you should at least look like you're young."

"Shopping!" Caroline squealed. "Oh, I saw the perfect thing the other day. It would look so good on you." Mona's eyes went wide.

"Don't worry, that's normal Caroline-esque enthusiasm," Stefan said, noticing her look of alarm.

"We got this," Damon said, gesturing to the bill. "Go shop, or join a cult or whatever it is teenage girls do these days." Bonnie, CAroline, and Elena all filed out of the restaurant, but Mona lagged behind.

"Thank you for lunch," she told the brothers sincerely. They were both taken aback and were speechless until she'd left.

"That is one seriously polite girl," Damon noted. "You'd never know she was basically raised by an ancient, vicious vampire."

"Oh, no, Mona's always been that way," Klaus said, sliding into the booth. Both brothers grew alarmed at his sudden appearance. "I had nothing to do with her impeccable courteousness."

"What are you still doing here?" wondered Stefan. "Thought you'd be gone on your mission by now."

"I just wanted to stick around and give you one last piece of advice," Klaus admitted. "If anything so much as happens to Mona while I'm gone, I will personally see to it that every single person in this town dies. And I'll start with your precious Elena." With that, he was gone, and the brothers breathed easily again.

"You don't think he actually cares about her, do you?" Stefan wondered. Damon shook his head.

"He's not capable," he replied. "No, she's just an 'asset' he's using. Just like the rest of us."

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Later that evening, after night had fallen, the brothers parked in the woods and made their way toward the sounds of the raucous party.

"Why do I have to come to this damn party?" whined Damon. "I'm tired of all these high schoolers."

"Because now, we don't just have Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline to look after," Stefan responded. "With Mona, all four would be too much for me to safely handle alone." He glanced sidelong at his brother. "Besides, I thought you'd want to see Mona again. You were riveted on her story at lunch."

"Oh please," Damon muttered. "I felt sorry for the girl. She's spent eight years with a psycho vampire as her only company. If anyone deserves a pity party, it's her."

Stefan shrugged. "Whatever. Let's just find the girls already."

"Holy-" began Damon, and Stefan followed his gaze. The four girls were just joining the party as well, and they were standing at the edge of the clearing on the other side of the bonfire.

"Wow," Stefan agreed. "She looks good." Mona was standing with the others, although looking fairly uncomfortable. She was wearing tight, dark jeans and black, knee-high boots, with a loose, sheer white top over a tight white spaghetti strap tank top. Her long hair was loosely braided to the side and spilled over her shoulder.

"No kidding," muttered Damon. "The guys here are going to flock to her like flies to honey." Sure enough, guys all over the party were taking notice of Mona. The brothers made their way over to the girls.

"Hey!" Elena called, leaning up to Stefan for a kiss.

"What do you think?" Caroline asked them, gesturing toward Mona's ensemble. "How does she look?"

"You look great," Stefan told the girl as he put his arm around Elena. Damon opened his mouth to say something offhanded and snarky, but he was interrupted.

"Hey there," said Aaron, a classmate at Mystic Falls High. He was a tall, good looking guy who played for the football team. He was also notorious for getting girls drunk at parties so that he could take them home later. Now, he addressed Mona. "We haven't met - I'm Aaron."

"Hi," Mona replied. "Mona." Aaron smiled.

"What a pretty name," he told her. "I don't think I've ever seen you around here before."

"I'm new," Mona said. "It's my first day in Mystic Falls."

"Great," he said, holding out a red cup for her to take. "This is for you." Stefan caught Mona's eye, and he shook his head slightly. Mona gave Aaron a perfunctory smile.

"No thanks," she said. "I'm not thirsty." Aaron's face fell minutely.

"Oh, come on," he cajoled her. "It's a party. You'll want one sooner or later."

"Take the hint, Aaron," Caroline said wryly. "That was her totally polite way of saying 'get lost.'" Aaron opened his mouth, but Bonnie cut him off.

"Forget it, Aaron," she said dryly. "She's way too good for you and your little tricks." He glared at her briefly before skulking away sullenly.

"Don't worry," Elena said, seeing the look of alarm on Mona's face. "It won't always be like that. Most of the guys here are nice guys. But trust us - you'll want to steer clear of Aaron." Mona nodded, and they spent the next hour introducing her to most of their senior class. Soon enough, however, Elena and Stefan went off to dance, while Bonnie and Caroline went off in search of the keg.

Damon reached into a cooler and pulled out a can of soda, handing it to Mona. She thanked him, and they walked to the edge of the clearing to watch the party.

"You're really hating this, aren't you?" Damon guessed, sipping from his beer. Mona groaned.

"How'd you know?" He laughed.

"You're way too smart for a drunken party like this," he replied.

"I don't think smart has anything to do with it," Mona told him. "I'm just so bored! I think I was under the impression that being a teenager would be, I don't know...fun?"

Damon choked on his beer as he laughed.

"Being young is fun," he impressed upon her. "As long as you know what to do." He waved at the raucous group. "This can be fun, but it's not for everyone." Mona gave a brief sigh.

"So why are you here?" she asked. "This doesn't seem like your scene, either."

"Well, someone had to keep you company," he drawled. "I figure the torture's worth it so long as I'm not the only one hating it here."

"So what do you do for fun, then?" Mona wondered, leaning back against the tree and sipping her soda.

He leaned in conspiratorially. "I'm going to tell you a secret," he whispered theatrically. "I read. A lot." Mona leaned back, surprised.

"Really? I never would have pegged you for the literary type." Damon smirked.

"Well, I know you must be of the literary type," he said. "Every time I see you, it seems like you've got your nose in another journal." Mona made a face at him.

"I've never really been allowed to read anything other than all those journals," she admitted.

"So you've never actually read...anything?" Mona shook her head. "Come on, let's blow this joint. I'm going to show you what you've been missing all this time."

Twenty minutes later, they were walking into the boarding house, and Damon led Mona into a large room at the back of the house. She gasped in amazement. It was a library, and dozens of bookshelves were filled with several thousand books.

"Stefan doesn't come in here, usually," Damon told her as she looked around. "This is kind of my 'special place,' if you will."

"This is amazing," Mona murmured, touching her fingers lightly to the spines of a few books at her eye level. "Really, I've never seen anything like it." Damon smirked.

"Would you like to read something?" he asked, and she nodded wordlessly. He picked a book off the shelf and held it out for her.

"Gone with the Wind," she read.

"Read it," Damon ordered. "It'll change your life." Mona fell immediately to floor, crossing her legs and opening the book. Damon laughed, catching her attention.

"You can sit on the couch over there," he said, pointing. Mona blushed, standing up. "Klaus raised you in a barn, did he? You're going to get your new clothes all dirty." Mona brushed off the back of her pants.

"Oh dear," she sighed. "I'm a mess." Damon raised an eyebrow.

"You looked nice tonight," he mentioned offhandedly. Mona looked up at him in surprise.

"Thanks," she replied. "I was worried I'd stand out terribly."

"You did," Damon confirmed. "But it was a good thing. The girls around here usually all look the same. You're what we like to call a refreshing new face." Mona rolled her eyes at him.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're..."

"Insanely handsome?" Damon cut in. "Ridiculously charismatic? Utterly irresistible? Yes, I hear it often, but it can never be said too often." Mona gave him an exasperated glance.

"Really ridiculous. That's what I was going to say."

Damon shrugged and smirked.

"You say potato, I say insanely handsome." Mona laughed. "It's late. Get yourself up to bed." She gave him a little salute.

"Yes sir," she said, stiffly marching out of the room. It was Damon's turn to laugh.

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Later that night, Damon and Stefan were roused from sleep when they heard muffled cries from down the hall. They went to Mona's door and confirmed that the noise was coming from her room. Inside, they saw that Mona was on the ground beside her bed, curled up and crying out. Stefan leaned down.

"She's still asleep," he told his brother in a whisper. "Must have fallen out of bed." He and Damon carefully lifted her back into the bed.

"Mona," murmured Damon, shaking her. It was several more moments before she opened her eyes, gasping in fright.

"Sh," Stefan said, rubbing her back. Mona regained her breath and her heart rate slowed down. "You're okay." Mona sat upright, sighing.

"I'm sorry," she said frustratedly. "I'm sorry that I woke you up."

"It's alright," Stefan told her. "That must have been some nightmare." She shrugged, laying back down. "Go back to sleep." Mona was gone again within the minute, and the brothers close the door behind them.

"I hope that was just a one time thing," Damon muttered, rubbing his eyes. "I'm not gonna be happy to lose so much sleep." Stefan rolled his eyes.

"Have a little compassion," he scolded Damon. "She's been Klaus's captive for eight years. You'd probably have nightmares, too, if you'd been stuck with him for so long."

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The next morning, Stefan found Mona sitting in the kitchen alone.

"Good morning," he said, and she looked up at him, smiling.

"Morning," she said in return as he started the coffee. "Is it always this nice in Mystic Falls? The weather is wonderful."

"Pretty much," confirmed Stefan. There was a knock at the door, and moments later, he was leading Caroline and Elena into the kitchen. They were carrying duffel bags, and Mona groaned.

"Again?" The other two girls nodded, giggling.

"You should get used to us," Caroline told her matter-of-factly.

"You're gonna get tired of me pretty quickly," Mona warned them.

"Not possible," Elena replied smoothly. "It's like having an already gorgeous doll to dress up." She beckoned Mona to follow, and with an exasperated glance at Stefan, who chuckled, Mona went with them. Upstairs, they led her into one of the cavernous bathrooms and shut the door.

"Alright, it's your first day at a new school," Caroline announced. "What's the perfect look for that?" Elena rummaged through her bag and pulled out a pretty top.

"My God, Elena Gilbert, you read my mind!" Caroline squealed. They handed Mona several items and ordered her to get dressed. Soon enough, she was wearing black skinny jeans tucked into black leather boots, and the pretty top. It was a beautiful shade of light blue, and it was sleeveless. She then donned a light gray jacket with 3/4 length sleeves, and turned to the girls who nodded their approval.

"Now for your hair," murmured Elena. Ten minute later, Mona's long hair was pulled back with two French braids that met at the base of her neck and flowed in a loose ponytail from there on.

"Excellent," sighed Caroline. "Honey, you're never going to need makeup." Mona smiled.

"You look fantastic," Elena announced. "We did a bang-up job, if I do say so myself." Caroline agreed wholeheartedly. They descended the stairs, but Mona fell behind, telling them that she'd meet them in a minute.

She found the door she was looking for and gave a gentle knock. Damon answered a minute later and gave her a once-over.

"Very nice," he told her. "I'm guessing Vampire Barbie had something to do with this?" Mona nodded. "She did something right, for once." She gave a little laugh/cough, but held out the book he'd lent her the night before. "You're already done?"

"I read fast," Mona told him. "And you were right - it was great." Damon took it from her.

"You can go into the library anytime you want," he said, hiding just how impressed he was. "I have a feeling you'll finish all of them pretty damn soon."

"Any suggestions?" Mona wondered.

"I'll put some aside for you while you're at school," he replied, tossing the book on the bed behind him. They could then hear Elena calling for her, so she turned to the stairs. "Good luck today. First day of school, and all."

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**Again, please let me know what you're thinking - shall I continue?**


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